I just wanted to introduce myself to everyone, my name is Krista and I'm the head of the fish department now here at Animart. I know many of you have had your experiences with us already but I invite you all to stop in regardless and give me your opinions on what we've been working on here in the store. We've installed new LED lights over the majority of our saltwater tanks and have a new maintenance regimen as well. I'm recieving a decent sized shipment this Friday so stop by and let me know what you think! I'm open to suggestions and more than happy to order livestock I don't currently have in, so just let me know if you're looking for anything!

I stopped in the other day and there appears to be a huge improvement but still a LONG way to go IMHO.

You are still stocking species that appear to do nothing but die a slow death in you tanks (leaf/angler, small unidentified octopus to name a few) and rarely would get purchased by the hobbiest (unless they are getting puchased by people that do not have a clue how to care for them anyway).

Many of your tanks still had dead or obviously dying/diseased fish and many of your staff have no real interest in helping or properly educating customers.

Maybe start by stocking more captive bred species (heck, why not support a local breeder >>alphacorals? I am guessing you could get a better price than what you have to pay for some of the fish you have in stock and then they do not have to be stressed with shipment).

Well, this is in my current plan, I'm hoping to get a new fridge with the Reef Nutrition products. Keep an eye out for the announcement.

Whysnow wrote:I stopped in the other day and there appears to be a huge improvement but still a LONG way to go IMHO.

You are still stocking species that appear to do nothing but die a slow death in you tanks (leaf/angler, small unidentified octopus to name a few) and rarely would get purchased by the hobbiest (unless they are getting puchased by people that do not have a clue how to care for them anyway).

Many of your tanks still had dead or obviously dying/diseased fish and many of your staff have no real interest in helping or properly educating customers.

Maybe start by stocking more captive bred species (heck, why not support a local breeder >>alphacorals? I am guessing you could get a better price than what you have to pay for some of the fish you have in stock and then they do not have to be stressed with shipment).

Well I'm always open to constructive criticism, and I do agree with you on the staff issue. Unfortunately I'm finding it difficult to teach new/existing employees much about saltwater because they're just not passionate about it, I can't force them to retain information they find no joy in learning about :/ However there are a few shining lights out there, such as my coworkers Kiara and Stephanie M. who have shown enthusiasm in learning. Otherwise feel free to ask me when I'll be there personally, I assure you it's quite a bit

As for the stock itself, you'd be suprised how many people actually buy those Octopi! The one you saw is actually my 5th (I've sold all the others in a relatively short amount of time) and I'm very careful to inform anyone interested in them or any of the other oddballs of the care needed to provide them with a happy home. Of course I know I can't be there every minute of every day, so when something new like that comes in, I send out an email to everyone. If you do happen upon someone who gives you false information please feel free to let me know, I'm keeping a close eye on that.

Finally, as for local breeders, I had the opportunity to meet the owner of AlphaCorals today and I do foresee working together in the future.

KRISTA I'm in almost every week too see if you have a blue hippo in and so far no luck.Also have you check your email on a cost of a black 125 gallon tank.Paul over at living arts has there's for 289.00 was woundering if you can beat that just let me know.thanks for all your help

kennedy608 wrote:KRISTA I'm in almost every week too see if you have a blue hippo in and so far no luck.Also have you check your email on a cost of a black 125 gallon tank.Paul over at living arts has there's for 289.00 was woundering if you can beat that just let me know.thanks for all your help

Hey John,

I know, it's been tough for me to get blue hippos that arent gigantic for some reason. I did order a few that were advertised as mediums for this Thursday, if they arrive and look good I will give you a call. As for the tank, I left you a message on your phone so let me know if you have any more questions or if you didn't recieve the message.

I was in Animart last week. I was pretty impressed with the saltwater section. Everything was clearly labeled, the fish looked healthy and the tank were clean. They had some awesome duster clusters and I'm thinking about going back for a firefish. The only downside is NO ONE was in the fish section to help and I was there for a while. Otherwise it was a nice improvement from the last time I was there.

Blue2Fyr3 wrote:I was in Animart last week. I was pretty impressed with the saltwater section. Everything was clearly labeled, the fish looked healthy and the tank were clean. They had some awesome duster clusters and I'm thinking about going back for a firefish. The only downside is NO ONE was in the fish section to help and I was there for a while. Otherwise it was a nice improvement from the last time I was there.

My thoughts exactly, I was in there for at least 30 minutes and not once was I asked if I needed help. I really watched and looked close at a couple tanks and still nothing

Animart wrote:Well that is upsetting, I feel like when I'm not here no one goes into the fish room, and that confirms it. I'll bring it up when we have our next department meeting and get back to you guys.

Actually it's worse than that, there were two employees in there (different times) and still nothing, I also looked at all the tanks just outside the fish room and an employee was in the aisle, still nothing.

It was okay by me because I was just looking but if a customer wanted to buy something there wasn't any help offered.

Not trying to be negative, but just wanted to provide you with my experience. I do like the store but I don't get there often as it is over an hour from the house.

I was in there this past weekend - for a while as well - and nobody came to see if I wanted anything. Didn't see what I was looking for anyways. There were two worker people in the fish room and they were both helping the same person. Not sure if there was some training going on or what.

Hmmmm chances are if there were 2 people helping one customer there was some kind of training going on, we do that a lot here. It helps each employee learn all the departments instead of just focussing on one area. Otherwise be rest asured that this is all noted in my head, and I'll bring it up to the other managers.

I was in Animart for the first time in quite a while recently. I did see some improvements -- cleaner, better labeled tanks. I thought the displays of those little pico-type tanks on the shelf on the left side of the fish room were attractive, too, in spite of the fact that I'm not a fan of those little novelty tanks. One thing that desperately needs aesthetic improvement is the backgrounds and aquascaping in the tanks; the tanks need opaque backgrounds so that you're not looking at plumbing and so that the fish stand out visually, and some decor in the tanks would go a long way to making customers think "hey, those fish really look nice swimming around this pretty tank - I'll buy them." There is nothing attractive about a bare tank with half dozen plecos stuck to the walls, and a display that is not attractive doesn't inspire purchases.

One minor observation: discus should be front and center, in a big tank. Jamming sensitive expensive fish in a dingy undersized tank that you have to get down on your knees to see doesn't really make sense. I've seen discus buyers observe the fish for an hour before choosing one, and no one is going to lay on the floor to do that.

The corals in the halide tanks on the top row weren't really looking their best, likely from some combination of lighting and water quality (I'm guessing those tanks are plumbed into the same system the fish are in) -- chalices and SPS were brown, and nothing was really getting shown off well by whatever halides are running (yellow/white color). Coral selection was pretty slim in general. It costs the same to run a coral display tank whether it has six or thirty corals in it, so there's no reason not to keep the tanks always stocked full.

Whysnow wrote:You are still stocking species that appear to do nothing but die a slow death in you tanks (leaf/angler, small unidentified octopus to name a few) and rarely would get purchased by the hobbiest (unless they are getting puchased by people that do not have a clue how to care for them anyway).

There was a feather star in stock when I was there, speaking of animals that are almost assuredly going to die. Not that every store doesn't do this, but Whysnow had mentioned it before, so I'm just noting that the situation still exists.

One thing that stands out from my visit to the store is this: there is very little selection of livestock. This has been the case every time I've been in the store (maybe 6-8 times in the last few years). Right as you walk into the store, there is a whole bank of empty animal enclosures in the small animal section. The reptile section had an animal in less than one out of every three cages (25 herps, 80+ cages I counted), and everything was run-of-the-mill. The fish room had maybe 40 marine fish, tops, and the FW selection wasn't great (lots of gouramis, I noticed, but very limited selection of even bread and butter tetras, corys, etc). Nearly every SW tank each had only one fish in it. Even a little store like Best FIsh has hundreds of items of marine livestock in stock at any given moment. I think the floor space of Living Art and of Animart's fish room is pretty comparable, but LA has far better selection. If I don't walk out of a store having seen at least 2 or 3 fish that made me a little excited, I don't know why I'd go back. Since this dearth of livestock is a store-wide and long-term issue at Animart I suspect that upper management is responsible.

Oh, and no one stopped to see if I needed anything. A simple, quick "If you need anything or have any questions, give us a shout" is both nonintrusive and casually welcoming.

I'm not trying to bash, but just replying to the request for constructive criticism. I hope it helps.